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North Carolina celebrates The Hunger Games

One of America’s hottest filming locations, North Carolina, is bracing itself for an influx of UK visitors all looking to follow in the footsteps of Katniss Evergreen (played by Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence), the leading character in tipped Hollywood blockbuster film The Hunger Games. Poised to be the new Twilight and released in cinemas on the 23rd March 2012, North Carolina provides the backdrop for this thrilling film.

The film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ popular dystopian novel was shot on locations and soundstages in the western half of the state. “Hunger Games” pilgrims can take travel cues from the sites that frame the action, the stars’ favourite off-duty spots and attractions that District 12 denizens would love.

Visiting North Carolina really is like being on a film set. Visitors can explore DuPont State Recreational Forest, the setting for the Arena where Katniss and fellow competitor and love interest Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson) are expected to fight to the death. Also worth exploring is Coleman Boundary in Pisgah National Forest, where pre-games scenes between Katniss and Gale Hawthorne, Katniss’ second love interest (played by Liam Hemsworth), were filmed.

Along with the Henry River Mill Village, home to the Mellark family, uptown Shelby and Charlotte both feature in the film. With its urban sheen, North Carolina’s largest city, Charlotte, presents the Capitol’s over-styled residents and the unlucky District tributes at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Knight Theater. In Shelby however the private warehouses west of the South Lafayette Street hub accommodated the Reaping, the Hob and other District 12 sites.

Experience North Carolina from £1,045
Guests can begin planning out their itinerary to the state from only £1,045 per person with DialAFlight (dialaflight.com). This fly-drive package includes seven-nights in North Carolina, with four nights at the Indigo Hotel in Asheville (where the cast stayed), followed by three nights in The Blake hotel in Charlotte, car hire and return flights London with United Airlines. Price is based on two people sharing, departing between the 1st and 22nd June 2012.

Home to the second largest filming studio in the US, many Hollywood movies have been filmed in North Carolina, including Dirty Dancing, Last of the Mohicans, Forest Gump and soon to be Iron Man 3. Don’t miss the chance to visit the state where it was all created.